


Viridian Soul, Act 2

by Machaeus



Series: Viridian Soul [2]
Category: Slightly Damned
Genre: Multi, New Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22826209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Machaeus/pseuds/Machaeus
Summary: Buwaro and crew have made it to St. Curtis...but what is going on in this city?  Why are Angels and Demons walking openly, and does this bode well, or ill, for the Great War?
Relationships: Buwaro Elexion/Kieri "Snowy" Suizahn
Series: Viridian Soul [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605862





	1. Chapter 1

**Viridian Soul**

**Chapter 7**

After a few days on the road again, Buwaro had learned to read Lingo, and to speak Angelic at low-level conversation. With those skills learned and in the process of mastering, Heathcliff's help, began instruction on Vril magic. The older man was surprisingly eager to teach so long as Buwaro paid him for instruction.

The boy ended up using a gold piece to pay for his instruction, to the man's surprise. "I got it from helping save Rhea's village," he shrugged. "I know it's a lot, but they were really happy to help for saving their lives."

"Fair," the man chuckled. "Anyway, let's start," he began.

Over ten days, Buwaro learned a lot from Heathcliff, and began to learn more about his magic. He could hasten his body when running, empower weapons with magic, create his aura of protection, light small fires, move things, sense magic, and understand its effects. In that time, with Heathcliff's help, he discovered a minor spell he could use quite on instinct when climbing, to use magical insight to grab onto the surface again.

He vaguely wondered how long he'd actually had access to Vril magic, as that spell did feel somewhat familiar to him from his time in the Ring of the Slightly Damned.

Either way, the boy spent much of his time under Heathcliff's instruction learning to meditate and clear his mind. It was remarkably helpful to be able to do so for the more complex spells, letting him use them with practiced ease even when he became distracted. Heathcliff was surprisingly proud of the boy's progress in those ten days, during which they dropped off Eve and Willow on the way past the Southern Forest.

Buwaro also discovered more about Darius on the way, as Kieri translated the rest of his diary and told he and Rhea about the things she'd learned. Rhea was stunned at the fact that an Angel had adopted three Demon kids, and Buwaro was disappointed that he couldn't remember anything about his father. Learning about his father's final, grisly fate was enough to depress him for a few days, but he eventually returned to his training.

He would not be caught off-guard by this War, the way his poor father had been.

They arrived in St. Curtis the day after the tenth day. Buwaro kept in the wagon for the time being, looking out at the other travelers in quiet thought and spending his time hefting a toy into the air with his magic for practice. His focus was troubled at times by a rough spot in the road, but for the most part he was able to move the toy as desired. In time, he tried tossing it and catching it, but couldn't seem to build up the speed he needed for such a technique.

Irritating, but not unexpected, as Heathcliff had said that such "cantrips" were low in power and not very useful in most conditions. Their real value was the ability to use them all day, unlike Elementalism.

After a while, they crested over the last hill into Blossom Valley, and Buwaro got a chance to look out through the front sliding window. He could almost _feel_ the life and strength in the great city before him, centered around the gigantic tree that covered it all. He smiled, the peaceful sense filling his mind and body and stretching his mind out in a subtle, gentle way.

_' – can't believe what they're saying about Weyville.'_

Buwaro jumped at that. "Heathcliff?" he asked the man quietly.

"Hm?"

"I just...heard a voice."

"...one of the passing guards," Heathcliff said quietly. "You've unlocked your Vril telepathy then."

"Tela...pathing?" the boy asked.

"Telepathy is a form of mental contact and mind reading," Heathcliff explained. "You can even talk to people mentally this way."

"Jeez," Rhea muttered. "This Vril stuff is cool."

"Isn't it?" Heathcliff chuckled.

"I've heard of Vril adepts being capable of mental control at high enough levels of power," Kieri said quietly.

"That's possible," Heathcliff nodded, "but at that point you'd be powerful enough to fight a Guardian anyway. I'm not at that stage yet."

"Wow," Rhea chuckled, clearly trying to cover her fear. Buwaro understood – that was a massive and terrible ability to have, to control someone's thoughts and actions. He swallowed a bit at the thought of being able to do that. He didn't need people to be more scared of him, and they clearly would be if they learned about this power.

He didn't blame them. "Heathcliff?" he asked. "How can you tell if someone's being, uh, controlled like that?"

"They'll be unimaginative, twitchy, and may jerk when they walk," the man replied. "If you know the person, you'll be able to tell, unless it's the very, very subtle magics. Either way, Vril is a very rare power and talent, so you shouldn't be too worried about it."

"Alright," the boy frowned, worried but hoping his mentor was right.

@=@=@

Eventually, they pulled into a spot to park the wagon, at which point Rhea noticed a shark-like Water Demon walking openly. She pointed it out to Heathcliff, who was just as surprised and worried as she was. They also saw some Angels walking openly, to the slowly widening eyes of the Sinclair family and the Angels with them.

Buwaro hoped it was a good sign, but Rhea wasn't so sure. With this in mind, Kazai and Zahariah decided to get some information from the Angels, asking Kieri and Buwaro to do the same with the Demons. Kieri agreed with some hesitance, but her brother quietly reassured her, sure she would be okay for the time being. She silently agreed, though she wondered how long that would last. Rhea went with Kieri and Buwaro to ask the locals as well.

Eventually, the group met up again late that afternoon. The two boys had done poorly, having accidentally scared a couple of Angels half to death when Kazai came across way too strongly. Kieri and her allies had done better, having met a friendly trio in Sahne, Kinako Tamais, and the latter's son. The Wind Angel toddler had found Buwaro and gently tugged on his tail, and the older boy decided to try and amuse the child by magic-grasping a hand puppet to "talk to" him. The child had been delighted at the sight, though Kinako had been confused and fearful of the spell Buwaro was using.

Kieri's explanation that Buwaro was a natural with Vril hadn't assuaded her fears, but when she explained how much of a sweetheart her boyfriend was, the mother relaxed.

It was during this talk that they became aware of a ritual. What the ritual was, they didn't know, nor why it was so horrifying to Kinako, but they could guess it was bad. {So they're ex-soldiers, perhaps?} Kazai frowned thoughtfully. {That'd be good, but who's to say they can help if something goes wrong?}

{If this ritual is something they know about,} Zahariah noted with crossed arms, {and Ms. Kinako feared it, then the Hellions are active...but there are some who clearly oppose them. That is a terrible thing to consider. After all, if it's as grey as it looks, we might not be able to discern friend from foe until it's too late.}

{A good point,} Kieri agreed, swallowing. {Then again, Sahne and, er, Lakritz seemed to be less than willing to fight for the Hellions, so...}

{Only as long as we don't have to fight any Vril users,} Buwaro noted quietly.

Kieri winced. {I doubt they have any,} she noted, {it's a _very_ rare talent.}

{Okay, good,} he sighed in relief.

{Why is that a problem?} Zahariah asked, worried.

Kieri winced. {I...Heathcliff said that Vril users are capable of...mental control, in addition to mind reading and mental communication.} The two boys' eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and Buwaro curled up a little. {We just learned that today ourselves,} she explained.

{So that's what he was saying,} Zahariah said. {He was talking about telepathic powers!}

{Telepathy, yes,} Kieri nodded.

{So that's the Angelic word,} Buwaro mused thoughtfully. {It sounds like a word-salad of 'mind' and 'speak' in Angelic.}

{Portmanteau,} Kazai chuckled. "Ta- _thii_ -nu, not ta- _tii_ -nu."

"Thanks," Buwaro chuckled. "So what's the Lingo version of that word?"

"Portmanteau," Kieri explained. "A real ten-silver word, I can only spell it because I practiced."

"How d'you say 'prestidigitation'?" Rhea smirked.

Kieri blinked. "Um...I'm not even familiar with that word."

"It's like a stage magician's sleight of hand kinda deal," Rhea shrugged, "cup-n-ball, flowers from a wand, color-changing scarf, and so on."

"Oh, I see," Kieri nodded, thinking. "So, prestigious digit maneuvers, as in the fingers...that is one of the few Angelic words shorter than the Lingo one... it's said as 'fei- _na_ -tae-mu- _lai,_ ' literally meaning 'mage's fingers.'"

"Fenataimo'li," Rhea mumbled thoughtfully, then nodded. "Alright, thanks."

Rhea then noted that most everyone was okay with the presence of the Demons and Angels in the open, though a few were scared half to death. More pressingly, a few were concerned it had something to do with Weyville's apparent annihilation. That part scared the lot of them half to death – they hadn't heard about it.

That was when Buwaro remembered what he'd heard in the mind of the guard they'd passed. "Oh crap," he mumbled thoughtfully, "maybe I should've..."

"Buwaro?" Kieri asked.

"My mind reading thing?" he shrugged. "Maybe I should've figured out what the ritual thing was."

"...good point," Kieri nodded thoughtfully. "Alright, we'll keep an eye out for them later."

"Yeah," Buwaro nodded, "good idea."

@=@=@

As the crew crashed for the night, Kazai suggested they start another watch. Kieri wasn't sure it was necessary, but was willing to go along with it. Eventually, they set up a watch: Buwaro would take the third watch, and the Angels would trade off the other shifts.

Nothing passed by all night, save for a guard. He jumped a bit at the sight of the boy's red eyes glowing in the darkness, and the boy winced and put out the glow. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"...so is this real?" the man asked. "Are you...or is...I mean..."

"Y-yeah, it's real," the boy replied lamely, curling up as the man came into view. "And I think something big's gonna happen soon," he admitted.

"...you don't seem too happy about it," the man noted.

"I'm not with the army," Buwaro explained. "I'm here by...circumstance. I'm barely even able to fight...proof right here," he snorted, gesturing to his sewn-up non-sleeve.

The guard winced. "Oof, that looks like it hurt when it happened."

"I passed out, so I dunno," the boy admitted.

"I don't blame ya. Well...best'a luck. And if you find anything out, come tell the guard over at the barracks, will ya?"

"Yessir," Buwaro nodded. "We know there's some kind of ritual the Demons are planning to use, but we don't have any further knowledge on it yet."

"Alright. Thank you, and uh, have a good night."

"I will," Buwaro nodded.

He made up his mind then, and when his shift was done, he told Kieri to start the last watch, then slipped out of the wagon's area to go wander the town. Eventually, he was able to find a strange smell – the smell of rotting bodies.

That seemed odd, so he followed it to a nearby tavern, which was closed for renovations by the sign – but Buwaro saw blood inside with his night vision. He also saw a Demon lying against the bar proper. Curious, he slipped in quietly and –

 _Clunkclungngngngng._ He paused at the sound of the spinning tankard, but to his surprise, the orange-and-black Fire Demon didn't wake up. He looked familiar, somehow, but Buwaro ignored that and slipped into a side room.

There, he saw Iratu.

His eyes widened. Iratu was in on this war thing. He knew about Darius, but he was in on the Great War. His jaw went slack for a moment, and he hesitantly slipped around behind the Earth Demon, only to kick another plate in his movements. He almost cursed as Iratu jerked awake and blinked blearily, grunting, and Buwaro bolted into the front again and out the door. "What the?" Iratu grumbled, while Buwaro mumbled to himself, trying to cast his speed spell. "Hey!" Iratu shouted a moment later, and began lumbering outside, while Buwaro jerked down an alley at high speeds.

The Earth Demon didn't seem to see him, to Buwaro's surprise. He sighed in relief, hoping he was safe from scrutiny, when the Earth Demon began lumbering his way. He bolted again, evading the older Demon and weaving his trail through his own path a few times to overwhelm his sense of smell.

He was back at the wagon in time, walking calmly to try and not hint that anything was wrong, since Kieri was going to be up. She jerked as he approached. "Buwaro? When did you...?"

"I left to think while you were getting up," he said. "Sorry."

"It's alright," she nodded. "Are you going to stay up for a while?"

"Might crash, actually," he shrugged. "I'll try and get some sleep again, anyway. Night."

"Good night, Buwaro," she smiled, and he slipped into the wagon to sleep again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Viridian Soul**

**Chapter 8**

It was the next morning, about 8 AM, that Buwaro approached Kazai. {Hey, Kazai?} he asked the Angel boy.

{Yes, Buwaro?} Kazai asked.

{I need to train my body.}

Kazai blinked. {Uh...why?} he asked, surprised.

{I've been weakened by my injury,} Buwaro explained, {and if the Great War is really going to return, I need to be stronger.}

Kazai nodded. {Alright,} he nodded, {then we'll begin with conditioning, then start training your fighting ability. Follow me.}

What began was an hour-long walk-run-walk as Kazai pushed the Fire Demon's abilities to their limits and beyond. The young Fire Demon was surprisingly fast, even without his magic, but there was still plenty of room to improve for his ability to last. With that in mind, the two spent about thirty minutes resting, before going back to the conditioning. They then began with teaching Buwaro to lift himself by his single arm, with minimal help from the Angel, to climb the tree's side.

By the early afternoon, Buwaro was quite exhausted, and ended up crashing for four hours before getting back up for a while. During this time, he discovered, Kieri got a little upset with her brother for pushing Buwaro too hard, even as Kazai explained that the young Demon had asked for his help and been willing to go along with it. He'd even pushed his effort past where Kazai had said to stop.

Kieri apologized to Buwaro after this, hugging him tightly. The boy had hugged her back, confused, until she told him about the mini-fight.

Eventually, Buwaro did a little more arm-training with Kazai, as that was his weaker point. The young Angel eventually got Buwaro to try doing a push-up with his single arm, and the boy barely managed two. That impressed Kazai, for some reason, so he gave Buwaro an easier task to build him up faster – leaning against a post at an angle, and doing more push-ups that way. Buwaro quickly understood that, while easier, this version wasn't necessarily easy one-armed.

Still, he did remarkably well, managing ten angled push-ups in about a minute. The boy crashed that night not long after dinner, pleased with his progress, even as minimal as it was.

The next day was even more intense: Zahariah got in on the action, teaching Buwaro some balance techniques with a local playground set at the park. It was meant for kids, but for a one-armed Demon with little formal training, it was surprisingly helpful. The boy also did more one-armed push-ups and built his strength and agility over the day.

When he got back, Buwaro learned that Miranda had had her baby, and that she would be home with Florina the next morning. Buwaro congratulated the man and – knowing the joke by way of Rhea several days prior – grabbed a cigarette and lit it for the man with his magic. The aging Human had laughed and accepted, slipping outside to finish the cancer stick.

Eventually, Rhea and Jake – who had apparently turned up that morning – went off to party in the night. Buwaro and Kieri joined them, the young Angel girl eventually getting a drink with her friends. Buwaro, after a gulp, had learned that his fire breath became more potent and overly easy to use, and he decided to not drink further, just in case.

The barkeep had thanked him for his thoughtfulness.

As the night wore on, though, Kieri asked, "Buwaro? Can we talk, back at the wagon?"

"Sure," he nodded, concerned at her slightly down expression. "Is everything okay?"

"I just...I need to tell you some things."

"Okay," he agreed, letting it go until she was ready.

Finally, back at the wagon, she broke down a bit, clinging to his jacket. "My life has...not been very good," she said quietly. "I know I have done well. I know I have made good friends and done my best...but all I can see in my mind's eye is...is her face. Disapproving of it all. The good isn't good enough, and the bad is unacceptable."

Buwaro quietly hugged her to his chest, lying down with her. "Who's this person that hurt you so much?" he asked softly.

"My m-my mother," Kieri hiccuped. "She...nothing I've done has ever been good enough. I have always been...below her expectations as a warrior. As a scholar, she detests me."

Buwaro swallowed. "Does she really?" he asked quietly, looking at Kazai. The other boy winced and nodded.

"Yes," Kieri mumbled. "And I...I'm starting to realize how...how much it hurt me."

"I can't imagine," Buwaro murmured, kissing her forehead gently. "I'm sorry she hurt you so much. So badly." He swallowed. "Is that where the scars came from?"

She sniffled. "I hur' so much inside," she blubbered, "that I needed to hurt outside, to make it...t'make it go'way."

Buwaro's eyes widened. He slowly pulled down the sleeve and ran a claw gingerly across the scars. The scars that he now understood were _her_ creation. "It was that bad?" he asked quietly. She only nodded, unable to speak for her tears. "I'm sorry," he said, "but if it was that bad, then I...I think I hate your mom."

She gave a weak laugh. "I...I don' blame you now," she whimpered, "bu'...bu' she'z a Zeraph an' ztrong an' – an' I though for zo long zhe waz righ', tha' I waz wordlezz an' a failure..."

Buwaro's wide eyes turned to a deep scowl. "Snowy. Kieri. Look at me," he commanded gently. She looked up at him, tears soaking her eyes and cheeks, and a bit of snot bubble forming in her right nostril. "Don't ever, _ever,_ call yourself those things. Okay?" he said. "You are, and never were, and never _will_ be, worthless or a failure. Your mother...if she said those things, she's walking garbage and, a-and I hope she gets all of Heathcliff's cancer," he spat, the foulest thing he could think to say.

She snickered and hugged him tighter, already feeling better. "Thank you," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"Cancer is the...the tumors, right?" Kazai asked Zahariah quietly. The Fire Angel nodded. "Then I agree with Buwaro here," he scowled sadly.

"Amen," Zahariah nodded soberly.

"See?" Buwaro smiled. "Your brother, his friend, and someone who's supposed to be trying to claw your throat out or something all think she's a jerk. I think that settles it." Kieri giggled harder at the jab at the Great War.

Eventually, the four turned in for the night, and Kieri cuddled into Buwaro's chest, clearly needing the comfort. Buwaro held her tightly, smiling at her as she fell asleep. He knew now that, if the Great War came back, he would have his purpose. Kieri was someone to fight for. If they could be peaceful, so could the rest of Heaven and Hell.

It was just a matter of showing it to them all.

@=@=@

The next morning, Buwaro could _feel_ the change in the weather. The storm didn't feel natural at all, for some reason, and Heathcliff was clearly on edge as well. "What do you think's gonna happen?" Buwaro asked the aging Human.

"Not sure," he said, "but if this weather is an omen, the Demons' army might be acting today. Gods I hope it's not the case."

"Me too," Buwaro frowned.

As the five friends lounged about for the time being, Heathcliff ran the shop, and in time, Kinako and her friends and son came by. Buwaro nodded to Lakritz, the shark-like Water Demon they saw on the first day, and gestured aside. The Water Demon agreed, and the two made their way off to the alley nearby. Once there, the older warrior asked, "What's up?"

"I saw Iratu up here," Buwaro said quietly. Lakritz winced. "Is my brother really involved in this war plan?"

"...your brother's our general," Lakritz mumbled, shocked.

"...he's...okay, crap," Buwaro groaned, pinching his sinuses. "This isn't good. He shouldn't want to be involved, not with dad's – " he muttered, before practically choking on his words.

"What's up? What's up with that 'Darius' guy?" Lakritz asked.

Buwaro sighed. "Darius...was an Elexion. A Craftsman-clan Angel." Lakritz's eyebrows jumped high. "Yeah. And dad...kinda got found by Hell because I screamed, probably woke up from a nap or something since I was a baby. And I know Sakido blamed me, according to her notes, for a long time...I didn't want to let him know I was here before because of that, but now..." He sighed. "So what's this stupid ritual thing?"

Lakritz winced. "You don't know at all, do you?" he groaned. "Shit...okay." Quietly, Lakritz told Buwaro about the ritual: a sacrifice of Angels to bring more Angels _and_ Demons to Medius, for the eventual conquest of the mortal world.

The boy's eyes widened. "...that's..." he began, before a rictus of fury spread on his face. He stalked away, gritting his teeth. "Just a minute," he growled.

"A-alright," the Water Demon nodded, and Buwaro walked away to calm his breathing before he lashed out.

Eventually, Buwaro came back, calmer, and said, "Okay. So we _have_ to stop that."

"Yeah, no kidding...but you're Sakido's brother too?" Lakritz asked.

"Yeah," Buwaro mumbled, downcast. "She...got shot on the way outta Hell. By one'a those Angel arrows. Which brings me to my next question," he frowned.

"Who shot her?" Lakritz grimaced. "There's an Angel in Hell...one who appears to be working for one of our other generals. He pays respect only to Lord Kivia, and the other generals have mostly ignored their...concerns."

"Who's this Kivia guy?" Buwaro asked.

Lakritz winced. "Lord Kivia...seems to be a powerful mage. He's got this dark green Wind magic, lightning blasts. We're not sure what caused the color change – "

"Aw shit," Buwaro swore, eyes rolling back. "A Vril user," he sighed, pinching his sinuses. "Heathcliff and I can do the same, though we're not that powerful yet."

"No, we're not," Heathcliff said quietly, startling both Demons. "I'm glad you two were somewhat discrete at least," he noted. "Now, if it's bad enough that they're rounding up Angels for a murder ritual, we need to alert the town guard, _now._ "

"Agreed," Buwaro said. "Lakritz, would you come with me?"

The Water Demon winced, before nodding. "Sure. I'll tell Sahne and Kinako to come with us too."

"Good," Buwaro nodded. "Everyone gets safe behind some kind of defense I hope."

"There's not enough room in the barracks for all of St. Curtis," Heathcliff noted.

Buwaro clenched his eyes, grimacing in frustration. "We can't do nothing for the few we can help," he told Heathcliff hotly.

"I'm not saying that," the man frowned. "I'm just saying we need to pretty much evacuate _everyone_ if it comes to that."

"True," Buwaro groaned, gritting his teeth. "...alright. Anything else we should know?"

"We've got this assassin," Lakritz sighed. "Specializes in slaying Guardians and their kids."

"You can kill a – oh great," Buwaro groaned. "And I suppose there's a Guardian here, and that's the only thing keeping them from attacking?"

"Yes," the Water Demon nodded.

"Well at least now we know," Heathcliff nodded. "We can counter them with that."

"True," Buwaro said, "but I'm like 100% sure the crap's hit the fan, hard."

"Guaranteed," the Human smiled grimly, "but now we've got an opening, whereas before we were blind and deaf to the trouble at hand."


End file.
